EPA expects preliminary VW defeat device software fix next week

WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG is
expected next week to provide U.S. and California regulators
with a preliminary attempt at a software fix for the defeat
devices it installed in 2012-2014 Passats, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday.

In an email response to a Reuters query, EPA said Volkswagen
told regulators it would deliver the software to the agency and
the California Air Resources Board in an attempt to "address and
correct" the illegal software algorithm that the carmarker
admits to have used in its diesel vehicles to evade U.S.
emission standards. The fix must win regulatory approval before
it can be used.

"EPA and CARB will immediately begin evaluating the proposed
software," the EPA said.

Earlier on Thursday, Volkswagen America President and Chief
Executive Officer Michael Horn told a congressional oversight
panel that the company has sought EPA approval to begin
installing software fixes in January in the first of nearly
500,000, 2009-2015 vehicles that contain the defeat devices.

Volkswagen said the cars fall into three generations of
vehicles. The most recent models, known as Generation 3, number
around 70,000 and would be the first to receive a fix.

EPA described the 2012-2014 Passats as Generation 2
vehicles, which Volkswagen said number around 90,000. Horn told
lawmakers that Generation 2 vehicles could begin to receive
fixes around the middle of next year.

The oldest cars, 325,000 vehicles grouped as Generation 1,
would require major changes including the installation of new
hardware. No date has been set for those vehicles to begin
receiving remedies.
(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Bernard Orr)